Economist: Irish Graduates Should Emigrate to Australia or Canada

Irish economist Eddie Hobbs told a group of students studying in Trinity that if his daughter was leaving college soon he would tell her to emigrate.
Economist: Irish Graduates Should Emigrate to Australia or Canada
1/30/2009
Updated:
2/1/2009
Mr.Irish economist Eddie Hobbs told a group of students studying in Trinity that if his daughter was leaving college soon he would tell her to emigrate.

For students in Ireland who are leaving college soon he advised them to leave the country as the economy is in a very serious condition and there are very few employment opportunities. He recommended going to Canada or Australia as they are likely to have opportunities in renewable energy technologies as the world emerges from a global recession.

He said, “If I was coming our of college today I would carve out a career in energy.”

Mr. Hobbs said that he believed in the theory of peak oil. He explained that as oil rich countries develop they are more likely to consume the oil they produce rather than sell it to other countries due to the growing demand of their own citizens. This means the price of oil will go up for oil importers. This will spark further investment and research in renewable energy technologies as countries try to become energy independent.

Mr. Hobbs said that the new US president ‘Gets it’. Obama said that he would make the US energy independent within ten years focusing on oil exploration and renewable energy technology.

“Barack Obama gets it. As early as August he made it clear that energy is one of his main priorities. Again in his acceptance speech this was his second focus after the economy,” said Mr. Hobbs.

Mr. Hobbs does not believe the world is on the cusp of depression as some economists have claimed. “The US will shift heaven and earth to get the economy going.”

“The markets need a rallying point. This is Obama. A rallying point is a reason to be optimistic and a reason to start re-investing.

“After this rallying point in the market there will be six months before an upturn in the real economy.”

However, he said that if this recovery comes too late it could spell disaster for the Irish economy, “If we are lucky and the US starts to recover in 2009, Ireland may be ok. If it does not recover we are in big trouble.” He explained if the US recovery takes too long Ireland will go much the same way as Iceland. If this happens he thinks Europe would come to our assistance because if we are forced to leave the Euro it will bring uncertainty for the currency.

“Our recovery will start in the US not in Ireland.” As a small exporting nation he expects our recovery to be driven by factors outside our shores. In Europe, Germany will come out of the recession quickest in the Eurozone which will mean that interest rates will increase while Ireland is still in a recession which is dangerous for the Irish economy.

He said that no one does bleak as well as the Irish, however, there are opportunities to invest and be optimistic even now. Mr. Hobbs advised that if he was investing at the moment he would put his money in gold stocks and renewable energy.